Pilikia (Troubles)
by RaeBeth13
Summary: In the wake of Danny's decision to help his son, he is faced with his own fight for life leaving Steve and the team with no options but to painstakingly help him from a distance.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Steve stepped out of the elevator in the warm and friendly foyer of the children's hospital. He dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out his keys as he made his way to the sliding doors.

"Uncle Steve." He heard a familiar voice call out as Grace ran towards him.

"Hey Gracie." He smiled, noting Rachel was a couple of steps behind her.

"Steve." Rachel smiled thinly, unsure how he would react to her given what had happened with Danny.

"How are you?" He asked softly.

"I'm okay." She nodded, though her expression was less than convincing.

"I'm going up to see Dad and Charlie." Grace said coldly to her mother before walking away.

Rachel closed her eyes, fighting the desire to burst into tears.

"Things difficult between you two right now?" Steve frowned.

"She's angry, just like Danny is, but I don't blame them. I deserve it." She nodded. "She's staying with Danny at the moment. She's only with me because I picked her up from school. She won't even look at me, let alone talk to me." Rachel continued, though she stopped when she realized she was opening up to a person who also had every right not to care. It's okay. It's not your worry." She smiled sincerely.

Steve hesitated for a moment, he'd never really been close enough to Rachel to offer any kind of help. "Charlie's doing well. He told me that he's going home tomorrow."

"That's the plan." She smiled.

"You got to be happy about that." He whispered.

"More than anyone could ever know." She nodded. "Anyway." she said as she pointed over to the chairs. "I'm going to wait down here until Danny's done."

"Okay." Steve nodded gently as his hands gripped his keys.

The pair went their separate ways, Rachel taking position on one of the bright colored chairs by the window overlooking a beautiful courtyard. Steve walked towards the doors and stopped. He couldn't help but feel bad for Rachel. Yes she made a terrible decision, but she was nowhere near the caliber of his mother when it came to being ruthless and vindictive. Right now, with the amount of emotion she was clearly suppressing, perhaps she didn't have anyone to talk to. He sighed before turning around.

Rachel looked out the window at a group of children playing with the toys in the courtyard. It was obvious to her that a handful of them were living on borrowed time and she felt her heart break for their parents who sat with them and acted as normal as they could. In the corner of her eye she saw a figure standing next to her, she looked up to find Steve.

"Coffee?" Steve asked as he pointed over to the café.

She was surprised and yet grateful. "Wouldn't this be seen as fraternizing with the enemy? I don't want to cause problems between you and Danny." She said, shaking her head.

Steve smiled softly. "I'll handle Danny. Come on."

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

Steve rested down a mug of coffee in front of her as he sat down at a booth. She smiled weakly, though her appreciation shone through. "Thank you."

Steve sighed as he leant back.

"I know this must be incredibly hard to believe, but the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Danny the way I have." She whispered. "But then looking back on the choices I made, the secrets I kept, I don't know how I could have ever have thought it would turn out any other way." She paused, lifting her hand to her head. "What have I done?"

Steve paused for a moment, thinking of his answer wisely. Though what she had done was wrong, he never thought it was ever out of spite. "You did what you thought was best for Charlie at the time."

She looked into his eyes. They were much like Danny's, soft and caring but behind them she could tell there was so much pain and torment. "When I found out I was pregnant, I was elated. I thought this might have been the chance that Danny had to move forward together. We made plans to go back to New Jersey, and I got wrapped up in the fairy tale." She said. "But standing at the airport, hearing the final call, and Danny not being there; it jolted me back to reality. He lives for the job, and that's not a bad thing, but it wasn't what I wanted either."

Steve listened carefully.

"He called while we were taxing out from the gate. Said that he'd be over as soon as he could get away, but he had to attend to a few things." She paused as her face creased. "He didn't tell me what was going on, he didn't tell me you were in trouble and he needed to help you. Perhaps if he had, maybe things would have been different. I would have had more of an understanding."

"When I was arrested for the governor's murder?" Steve recalled.

She nodded. "On that flight home, I decided that I would call it off. And I believed that to make things easier on everyone, I would give it a couple of days and tell him that Charlie was Stan's." Her face creased with deep regret. "The irony being that I had been a hundred times happier with Danny, even at our lowest point in our relationship, than I had ever really been with Stan. I look back now and I can see it just didn't make sense."

Steve's eyes drifted down. "What about you and Stan now?"

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "He's gone back to the mainland. He's given me six months in the house, just enough time to get Charlie settled, then we'll start divorce proceedings." She nodded.

Steve sighed. "Rachel, there is nothing I can say or do that's going to make this better between you and Danny. But it will get better in time."

Rachel grinned sheepishly. "You have a lot of faith in your partner, Steve."

"I know he's a hot head, and he's hurt. He's got to accept that he missed the first couple of years of his son's life." He paused. "He's so devoted to Grace that he didn't hesitate to leave everything he loved and move to a place he likens to hell on most days. He left his job, his family, his home town because he didn't want to miss one minute of Grace's childhood. Visitation twice a year just didn't cut it with Danny."

She nodded.

"In a couple of months, when he and Charlie have bonded, things will look different to him." He said with confidence. "Sure this is always going to be in the back of his mind, but I believe that he will have worked through enough to know how lucky he is and to be happy with what he's got. Especially given what's happened to Charlie."

Rachel sighed with doubt.

"Trust me." Steve nodded before his cell phone chirped. "Sorry." He whispered to Rachel before accepting the call. "Kono..." he answered.

"Boss, I know you're with Danny and I'm sorry, but we've got something." Kono replied.

"Hold on." He said before pressing his hand over the phone. "I'm going to have to go." He smiled softly.

"Of course." She nodded. "Thank you so much, Steve."

"You're welcome." He replied before standing up and walking away, pressing the phone back against his ear. "What have we got?"

"An unidentified shooter walked into the site office at Kapula Quarry, just west of Waimanalo. He shot all eighteen of the employees, as they were in a daily briefing, and then left. HPD are canvasing the area but so far they have no clues as to who this man is or where he has gone."

"What's the status of the employees?" Steve frowned as he stepped out of the hospital and hurried towards his truck.

"Three are listed as critical, four are stable, two walking wounded and the status of the remaining nine is unknown." Kono replied.

He hopped into his truck and turned the key, bringing the engine roaring to life. "I'm on my way."

Rachel walked back out into the lobby when she was drawn to a man at the front desk. He was clear agitated as he barked at the lady who took enquiries.

"Doctor Neo. I want to speak to Doctor Neo." The man shouted.

"I understand, sir. But like I mentioned, he is currently in surgery." The woman reasoned.

Rachel hovered to the side, stopping as she used the excuse of concentration on the contents of her purse as a reason to have stopped. She knew the woman behind the desk well, Macey, she was a fifty something woman with a massive heart and all the love in the world for each and every person who came into the hospital. A breath of fresh air and a saving grace for so many who struggled to find any happiness.

"Get him out here." The man growled.

"Sir, that's simply not possible at this moment in time. I can let the OR know that you're here. They can ask him to come down when he's done." Macey answered with sincerity.

The man seemed to transition from nervous and uptight to being almost calm.

Rachel smiled softly, impressed with how Macey had handled the situation. God knows she'd had years of practice dealing with inconsolable parents in their darkest hours.

The man closed his eyes before pulling out a handgun from his belt. He pointed it at Macey. "You've got 30 seconds to convince him to come down here, or I'm going to put a bullet in you."

There were screams of fear as people ran for the doors or for cover.

"Everyone stay where you are. I'll shoot anyone who tries to leave." The man belted out.

"Oh my god." Rachel whispered as she sought refuge behind a chair.

The man turned back to Macey before looking at his watch. "23 seconds. How's that doc going?"

Macey picked up the phone, her hands shaking so wildly that she couldn't even press the right numbers.

He peered around, taking note of the layout and a room to the side marked with staff. "I want everyone in that room!" He yelled as he waved his gun towards a door. "NOW!"

Rachel fumbled for her cell phone, finally gripping it in her hand like her life depended on it. She pressed a speed dial and held it up to her ear, still cowering. "Danny…" she whispered, the fear and desperation in her voice was evident. "There's a man down here in the lobby, he has a gun. He's ordered everyone into staff area."

"What?" Danny asked as he stood up from beside Charlie's bed. "What are you talking about?"

"He wants to see a certain doctor, but he's in surgery. He's threatened to shoot Macey if she doesn't get him down here."

"Okay, Rachel, I'm on my way."

"No." she snapped softly. "No. You stay with the children. Keep them safe."

"Get up! Get in that room!" a mans voice could be heard as Rachel screamed. She threw her phone under the chair without him noticing.

Danny straightened as he listened helplessly.

The man had grabbed Rachel by the arm and was dragging her to the room. He stopped at the desk, looking at Macey. She placed the phone down on the handset, her face filled with disappointment and fear. "He's not coming, is he?" he said.

Macey's eyes flickered to Rachel before she shook her head. "No." she whispered.

"Okay." He nodded calmly. "Well you knew the deal." He said, lifting his weapon up and shooting her point blank in the chest. Macey fell back without a sound.

Rachel screamed for her to answer as he pulled her over to the door.

"Rachel!" Danny called as he could hear her voice becoming distant. "Rachel!"

Grace sat up straight in her chair, her expression fraught with concern. "Danno?"

"It's okay baby." He said calmly, though it was far too late for reassurances. "But I need your cell phone."

"Is mom ok?" she asked.

"She's fine. She's just having trouble with her cell." Danny replied. "Listen, I want you to stay in here with your brother. I don't want you to go out of that door unless I tell you too. You got it?"

Grace's eyes widened. She nodded.

Danny grabbed the cell phone and raced out the door, straight over to the nurses station. "I'm detective Danny Williams, I'm 5-0. There's an active shooter down in the lobby and he's taken hostages. You need to alert security, call HPD and lock this hospital down."

The nurse frowned with disbelief.

"Now. Do it." He ordered.

"Okay." She nodded as she reached for the phone.

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

"What have we got?" Steve asked as he met Kono and Chin at the entrance of the quarry.

"Those nine I was telling you about, they're all dead." Kono answered as they started to walk up a dirt road to the crime scene. "HPD are still none the wiser on who this guy was."

"Okay, walking wounded. You talked to them?" He asked.

"Grover's with them now." Chin answered. "But from all accounts I'm going to throw it out there that this was premeditated."

"What makes you say that?" Steve frowned.

"The staff were all located in one of the demountable offices. Now usually, on any given day, by ten am they're spread out over the quarry doing various jobs. The owner of the business, Michael Lowrey, had called them in for this special meeting."

"Maybe he was lucky?"

"Maybe. But the security cameras went down over night. Someone cut the wires to the circuit board and for this guy to vanish like he has, I'd say he had a plan." Chin responded.

"Kono, can you do a property check on this place. Run it through the HPD dispatch, see if we get any hits. Also check anything against Michael Lowrey."

"You got it." She nodded as she headed over to her car.

"Lou?" Steve called out as he walked over.

"Neither of them recognized him." He said as he clutched his notebook in his hand. "But they said one of their colleagues had a cell phone in his hand during the shooting, it's possible they caught video or photo evidence."

"Okay, we need all the cell phones." Steve answered. "Do we know what the special meeting was about?"

"They didn't know." Grover answered. "Just that there was rumors going around that the quarry was being shut down for safety reasons."

"Safety reasons?" Chin asked. "Disgruntled ex-employee who had been injured at work?"

"Possible, but one of the witnesses has been here since it opened fourteen years ago. He would have known him." Lou nodded. "They both claim that the site's safety record is spotless."

"So I got nothing against the property." Kono said as she approached, holding a tablet in her hand. "Michael Lowery is a whole different story."

Steve frowned.

"He's had dealings with a neighbor of the quarry, a man named Kai Kap'ao. HPD reported attending his property in Manoa, due to altercations between the two men and Lowery reporting malicious damage to his residence in the past eight months."

"Does it say if Kap'oa was the cause for the malicious damage?"

"They have no evidence to support it but he is considered as a suspect due to the ongoing issues between the men." She nodded.

"Do we know what the beef between these two is about?" Grover asked.

"I need to do some more digging." Kono replied.

"Okay, we have a possible suspect." Steve nodded. "Lou, Chin, I want you to pay this Kap'oa a visit. Take an HPD squad with you, if this guy is armed and on the run for murder then he is likely to be unstable."

"Got it." Chin nodded.

"You get one sign that going near his house is too much of a risk, you pull back."

"Where's Danny when you need someone to get shot at?" Grover answered.

Steve grinned before his cell chimed. His smile faded when he saw caller ID. "Gracey? You okay?"

"No." Danny answered. "It's me. Do me a favor, just shut up and listen to me."

Steve's eyes widened at the urgency in Danny's tone. "What's happened?"


	2. Chapter 2

Lou and Chin walked cautiously up to the Lanai which enveloped the worn timber house. Their hands clutched the grips of their guns as they carefully checked their surroundings. Chin sighed as he looked at Lou, both standing on opposite sides of the door. He reached out and knocked on the aging glass panels, etched into the frame, then stepped back.

After a few moments the door opened, a woman appeared.

"Oh my god." She shouted with fear as she lifted her hand to her mouth and stepped back.

"Mrs Kap'oa?" Chin said softly, angling his gun down slightly.

"Yes." She nodded.

"My name is Lieutenant Kelly, and this is Captain Grover, 5-0." He said gently. "Your husband is Kai Kap'oa?"

"That's right." She answered, frowning.

"Is your husband in?" Grover asked.

"No." she shook her head. "No, he left early this morning." She paused as she saw them holster their weapons. "What is going on?"

"We'd like to ask you a couple of questions, if that's okay?" Chin answered.

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

Steve slammed on his breaks, forcing his truck to come to a screeching halt, beside the collection of HPD vehicles which had congregated in the parking lot to the hospital.

"We didn't think we'd get 5-0" Duke called out as he stepped over. "Dispatch told us you were neck deep in an investigation Waimanalo."

Steve reached for his vest and stepped out of the truck, swinging the armor over his head like a well-practiced move. "Danny's in there, and Rachel and the kids." He answered. "I'm just here for him. I'm not going to get in your way."

"To be honest with you, Steve. I think this is probably more in your area of expertise." Duke nodded.

"Talk to me." He said as he followed the cop over to the hood of a squad car where blue prints of the hospital were stretched out.

"From what we can tell, the gunman has the hostages holed up in this room to the rear of the lobby. Security are questioning a suspicious device which is near the door."

"IED?"

"Possible. We just can't risk getting too close to the main doors just in case he does have the place rigged."

"Okay, is there any way we can evacuate rest of the hospital?"

"If we could clear an exit we could get some of the unaffected patients, family and doctors out." Duke answered.

"Some? Why not all?" Steve frowned.

"Some of the kids just can't be moved. We got three in High Dependency, seven in ICU and twelve premature and sick babies in NICU." Duke sighed. "The best way to secure their safety is to get this guy taken down ASAP."

"Do we have any idea how many hostages he has?"

"Conflicting witness reports. Anywhere between twenty five to forty people. He definitely has kids in there." Luke nodded. "SWAT can see a body on the ground just inside the lobby."

"Danny said there was a gunshot in the background when he was talking to Rachel on her cell."

"We'll work on securing an evac plan." Duke nodded. "But if Danny can get eyes on what's going on in there, that would be a start."

"Right." Steve nodded cautiously, not liking that idea one little bit.

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The woman slumped down on the steps to the Lanai as Lou and Chin stood in front of her. She was young, perhaps early 30's, but she looked worn for her age. She was in complete shock with what the pair had just told her about the shooting at the quarry. "I can't believe it. Are you positive it's Kai?" she whispered before looking up at them. "I knew he was angry, but not enough to go on a rampage."

"Can you tell us what he was angry about?" Chin asked.

Her face creased with sadness as she gasped for breath, she hesitated for a moment as she tried to steady herself. "Our son, Jayden, he's four." She paused. "He'd been learning how to ride an ATV, Kai loved teaching him. It was the only real thing they ever bonded over." She inhaled a deep breath. "Three weeks ago, Jayden got out of the house one afternoon, got on his ATV and rode up to the back of the property. There is a fence between our land and the quarry, we didn't know that there was a hole. Jayden crawled through. He was hit by Lowrey's car on the dirt road leading up to the site office. By the time we got to him, Lowrey had moved Jayden back through the fence, and his off sider was kicking dust over the pool of blood. Lowrey was standing over my son, on the phone, next to the ATV which was on its side. He was telling the EMS some story about how he'd seen Jayden tip it after going too fast."

Grover's shoulders slouched as he straightened his back.

"Lowrey told Kai, that it would be in his best interests to go along with the story. That Lowrey couldn't afford to be under any kind of scrutiny from either the police or safety inspectors. He said he would pay for Jayden's medical bills and any other financial losses we would suffer due to the accident."

"He paid you off?" Grover said softly.

"You have to understand, we don't have any money. Our income is mainly from growing produce and selling at the farmers markets, but this year has been a terrible year. We didn't have a choice but to take Lowrey's offer, to make sure Jayden got the best medical treatment that we would never be able to pay for."

"Did Lowrey come through with his end of the bargain?" Chin asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, so far he's paid for everything. But then Child Services were contacted, said that we were looking at being investigated for child endangerment. They were talking about the likelihood of removing Jayden from our custody."

"I bet Kai didn't take that well?" Grover asked.

"No." she whispered. "And then, last week, while he was recovering in hospital, Jayden suffered a severe bleed on the brain, due to the initial trauma. Right now, he's on life support at Honolulu Children's Hospital, and all we get told by the doctor is that there is nothing they can do. That if, in the unlikely chance, he pulls through he is going to be severely brain damaged. Kai went mad when the doctor suggested that turning the life support off was perhaps the best thing to do." She continued. "But that's where I thought he was, at the hospital with Jayden. We try to take it in turns so one of us is always with him."

"I'm sorry, did you say Honolulu Children's?" Chin frowned.

"Yes." She nodded.

"That's where Danny is." He said to Grover.

"You said the accident happened three weeks ago, but our checks show there's been several confrontations between your husband and Lowrey in the past eight months." Lou asked softly.

She nodded gently. "Kai believed that the run off from the quarry was what was killing our crops. They'd put in a new drainage system at the end of last year and since then we'd had torrents of water coming down. He tried to explain it to Mr. Lowrey, hoped that he would look into it. At first he offered us compensation and the promise that he would investigate the problem, but when the recent heavy rains happened, it took everything. Mr. Lowrey said that he'd done enough and that we were taking advantage of his generosity and money, that there was no proof that the run off was what caused the loss in harvest." She sighed. "Kai said he was working on a plan to get money flowing again, but all he'd do is lock himself in the storage shed up the back."

"Can we take a look at that shed?" Chin asked.

"Of course." She nodded.

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

"Listen, I'm not saying I disagree with the idea that I should go down there." Danny started as he held the phone against his ear. "But I'd feel a lot better if Grace and Charlie were out of here before I go."

"I understand that Danny." Steve nodded. "And we are doing everything we can to create a safe extraction point so that it can happen. But we need to get an ID on this guy to know what we are dealing with." He sighed. "There's got to be hospital security. Can't they secure the floor the kids are on?"

"I got two guards with me right now, but their unarmed."

"Unarmed?"

Danny sighed. "Yeah, the hospital board decided that armed security guards were inappropriate in a children's hospital."

"I'd love to know their opinion on this now." Steve hissed.

"Right? Let me tell you, the two guys I'm standing with are extremely vocal on the decision right now."

"You know, it's too much of a coincidence that there is a shoot-out up in the hills and now this. My gut feeling is it's the same guy but it's the connection. I just don't get it." Steve shook his head.

"Your gut might just be right and as for a connection, I think we have a solid one." Kono said as she approached Steve.

"Hold on Danny, I'll put you on speaker." Steve announced as he pressed the button and rested the cell phone down on the hood of the HPD cruiser.

Chin and Lou have just left the Kap'oa residence. They spoke with his wife and also searched an outhouse on the property. Turns out that Kap'oa's four year old son, Jayden, is on life support in the hospital after being hit by Lowrey's car a couple of weeks ago. Lowrey paid the Kap'oa's off to keep quiet about his involvement. The son was on the road to recovery until last week when he suffered a serious bleed on the brain, the doctors say that he's unlikely to come out of it. Kap'oa, understandably, took it extremely badly and he has refused to shut the life support down."

"So his son is in the hospital?" Danny asked.

"What are you thinking?" Steve asked.

"Well, I'm no genius but if his son's in the hospital it's unlikely his plan is to blow this place sky high. Maybe he thinks the doctors are lying to him and that there is more they can do. Maybe he's just here to make a point, threaten people with the hope that his son will be saved." Danny answered.

"It's a good theory, but Chin and Lou searched the outhouse and came up with a whole inventory of materials that could be used to make IED's as well as instructions. It also looks like he has a decent collection of unregistered firearms, half of which are missing from the house." Kono replied.

"The main thing out of all of this is that Kap'oa seems to be the only suspect in the hospital right now, and we know where he is." Steve said as he leant against the hood of the car.

"Which is more than we can say for Lowrey." Kono answered.

Steve frowned.

"Max called before, Lowrey wasn't amongst the victims up at the quarry."

"Interesting." Steve answered.

"It's possible he could have been clipped and then escaped, I have an APB out on him and HPD are in the process of sharing his details with all the hospitals and urgent care centers on the island."

"What about the lead with the cell phone footage?" Steve asked.

"Came up dry, but one of the witnesses says that Lowrey was there when the shooting started." Kono replied.

"Steve." Duke called out. "We've secured an exit. SWAT are moving in now to extract as many inside as they can."

"Okay, Danny. Sit tight. Someone is coming to get the kids. Once that's happened, I want you to go down to the lobby, get as much intel as you can, from a distance, then get out of there." Steve instructed.

"I don't want to risk that we can't get back in." Danny answered.

"That's a bridge we have to cross if it happens."

"I'm staying in here Steve." Danny argued.

Steve closed his eyes with frustration as he picked the cell up and took it off speaker. "You're not equipped to stay in there on your own. Come out, get your things and we'll go back in as a team when the evac is complete."

"Okay, listen to me. The mother of my kids is being held at gun point by a mad man. Right now I am in a position to help her. If I leave and something happens, meaning we can't get back in, we will have lost any kind of advantage. You want me suited up, you bring my gear in."

"Danny." Steve growled with protest only to hear the line go dead. "Danny? Danny?" he called out, looking at his screen for confirmation to something he knew had happened. "I'm going to kill him." Steve whispered before his cell phone chirped again. "Danny?" he snapped.

"No, Steve, it's Catherine."

"Hey." He whispered.

"So, Chin sent over the instructions on the particular IED that Kap'oa had."

"You send it to DoD to identify?"

She paused. "There was no need." She answered. "Steve, I've seen this one before. It's an incredibly easy device to make, but where it's on the mark with its simplicity, it lacks with stability. These kinds of devices have been the culprit to countless injuries and even deaths to allied disposal teams in the Middle East since the conflict started. Even the insurgents planting them have often become victims."

Steve sighed with frustration. "We don't know if he has any in there."

"No. But I am assuming you will approach this as if he has." she sighed, she knew she was giving him information he didn't really want to hear or handle. "All I am saying is that you need to make sure that everyone going in acts with extreme caution. It's possible that not even Kap'oa knows how volatile these particular devices really are."

He knew she was right, he knew he couldn't just stick his head in the sand to this intel. "Thanks Cath." He whispered as Chin and Lou pulled up.

"If there is anything else I can do, just call me. Okay?" she replied.

"Yeah." He whispered before hanging up the call. "Okay." He turned around to his team, dragging his hands from his eyes down to his cheeks. "We can't do anything until SWAT have finished the evac. I know we've done a background check on Lowrey. On paper he looks like a well-respected and successful business man who had an accident." he nodded. "My question is, why wouldn't he just leave Kap'oa's son where he was after he hit him? Why not just call the authorities and tell the truth? Why force the family to lie about what happened to the kid?"

"The mother claims it was a deal made because Lowrey would handle the medical expenses." Chin started. "Jayden entered private property. If they took Lowrey to court for negligence they would run the risk of not being eligible for compensation through the legal channels. Leaving them in even more debt than they are in right now."

"I don't buy it." Steve shook his head.

"I agree with Steve." Lou answered. "After the heavy rains took the last of their harvest, Kap'oa went down to talk to Lowrey at his house for the final time. Lee Kap'oa said that her husband came back extremely shaken."

"Did she say why?" Kono answered.

"No. She didn't know what went down between them, but after that he was insisting that they forget about Lowrey helping them out. He even claimed that the run off probably wasn't the cause of the lost crops." He continued. "But we saw the damage done to their land, there was sediment trails going right through their field coming from the quarry."

"So whatever it was, it was enough to make Kap'oa stand down." Kono thought out loud.

"And whatever it was it pushed a father into, not only making a spare of the moment deal with the man who ran down his son, but also go with a story which could make him negligent of child endangerment." Lou replied.

"This guy has something to hide and I think he has some kind of hold on the Kap'oa's. I want to know what it is." Steve insisted.

"I'll dig deeper in his background." Kono nodded.

"Chin, Lou, I need you to coordinate with Duke and the SWAT commander on a breaching plan."

"You got it." Chin nodded.

"In the meantime I'm going to try and get Danny back on the phone. Talk him out of doing something stupid." He said as he looked at his cell phones screen.

Kono grinned.

"What?" Steve replied.

"Well usually it's the other way around." She answered. "What would Danny say in reply to this?"

Steve stifled a laugh. "Welcome to my world."

Kono raised her eyebrows and smirked as she turned and headed back to her car.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rachel sat against one of the walls in the room, with her head down. Quiet sobs of fear, from many of those who joined her, made for the only real noise. Occasionally she would look up, just long enough to see what Kap'oa was doing. Right now he was standing near the doors, seemingly calm, as he held a tablet in his hand. He was watching something on the screen, what she didn't know, but it was of serious interest to him.

At first Rachel had regretted dropping her cell phone outside, perhaps she could have stayed in contact with Danny on the down low, but Kap'oa had his wits about him as soon as they were pushed into the room. He'd ordered everyone to turn the phones in, anyone who couldn't present one was searched. What he didn't count on was that doctors usually had two on them, which was the case for a young registrar who sat near her.

Rachel had witnessed the young woman, in her mid 20's, carefully reach into her white coat for the cell, switching it to silent before placing it in her pocket again. The young woman had looked up to see if it anyone had noticed, Rachel caught her eye and offered her a relieved smile.

The two women slowly etched towards each other, between the threatening glares from their captor, when he wasn't focused on the screen in his hands. Finally they got close enough to communicate between whispers.

"Rachel." She introduced herself.

"Mia." The girl answered.

"I have contacts with 5-0, I know at least one of them is in the building. If I could just get a message to him, we might be able to help them get us out."

Mia nodded, moving herself in front of Rachel to provide a screen between her and Kap'oa. When she was in place she gently reached into her pocket, sliding the cell phone out and subtly back into Rachel's hands behind her.

Rachel's hands were shaking as she attempted to make the selections on the screen. She stopped, composing herself and taking a deep breath. Yes there was an urgency to get at least one message out. Yes there was an urgency to do that before Kap'oa suspected anything. Of course what was going to happen, if he did catch her, filtered through her thoughts but being panicked held no advantages. All it would do is make her prone to more mistakes. She had to bring herself down to a level of calmness, she had to be composed enough to help all these people and to give her a shot of ever seeing her own children again.

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Danny escorted Grace, Charlie and the others on their floor to the extraction location. They could see SWAT on the other side of the glass, positioning themselves carefully to protect the civilians as they leave.

"Danno." Charlie said as his eyes widened, frightened of the masked and dark men with guns. He nestled his face into his father's shoulder as Danny carried him.

"Hey, buddy. It's okay. These guys might look scary but that's only because they need to scare the bad people." Danny answered as he knelt down and held his son in front of him. "I know a lot of these guys. They're big pussy cats."

Grace's eyes lit up, like she knew exactly what was going on.

"Grace, it's going to be fine." Danny reassured her. "Uncle Steve is going to be waiting for you. I'm going to stay in here and go and get your mom. I need you to look after Charlie for me."

Grace, wise beyond her years, knew better than to verbally protest in front of Charlie. If she did then Danny's attempt at calming him down would have been wasted, but her expression told him everything.

"You got your headphones for your cell?" Danny asked.

"Yeah." She nodded as she reached into her pocket and pulled them out.

"I'm going to need to borrow your cell for a bit longer." He smiled. "Okay?"

She nodded again.

"I got them, detective." A nurse said as she stepped forward. "I'll take them out."

"Thank you." He said softly.

Grace's phone chimed as he looked down. He read the message from a number that wasn't recognized. "That's your mom right now." He said, with relief in his tone. "I got to go, okay?"

Grace hugged him tightly.

Danny savored the moment, more so now than ever before. "You guys do whatever this nurse tells you. Okay?"

Grace stepped back and nodded, her eyes filled with tears.

He turned to the two security guards. "You ready."

They both answered positively in unison.

All three turned and disappeared down a hall way as they headed towards the lobby. "Steve." Danny said as he pushed the ear phones in his ears.

"Danny."

"I just got a message from Rachel, she says there are the 38 friendlies, 12 are children. One hostile, she can only see one handgun, but she says he has a bag which could have more weapons in it. The hostages are seated against the walls. Kap'oa is monitoring something on a tablet, she didn't know what."

"Kono, can you tap into the hospital security feed?" Steve answered urgently.

"What? What are you thinking?" Danny replied.

"We need to see if there is an external device hooked in to that feed. He might be watching the exits, and if that's the case he will be able to see SWAT." Steve answered.

"Call the evac off." Danny growled urgently. "If he can see our guys at the doors it might spook him."

"Duke, call SWAT back in." Grover ordered.

"You were right." Kono nodded. "An unauthorized device is viewing the security cameras."

"The lobby is through these doors." One of the guards said to Danny.

"Guys, we're here." Danny announced.

"Okay, Danny. We reviewed the footage from the time Kap'oa went in." Chin started. "There is no indication that he rigged anything to any of the other doors."

"Is there a feed inside the room they are being held in?" Danny asked.

"No, it's completely dark as far as camera's go. One only four rooms in the hospital that do not have CCTV." Steve answered.

"Fantastic." Danny sighed.

Steve picked the cell phone up off the hood and walked away from the group. "Danny, listen to me. I just want you to do a clean sweep of the lobby and then I want you to get out of there. Promise me you'll do that."

"What is it with you? You don't like it when I have the potential to get shot at without you being involved? Because those rights are not exclusively yours, Steve, I can get myself into a whole world of danger without you." Danny answered sarcastically.

"As hysterical as you think you are, this is not the time for you to be a smart ass." Steve growled.

"I disagree. This is exactly the time. Sometimes you need reminding that you are not always in control and you are not always the one who can totally disregard orders and go ahead with whatever you want to do. I can play that game too."

"So this is about proving a point?" Steve hissed with amusement.

"Aside from my ex-wife being in that room, which any normal disgruntled ex-husband would be cheering at the situation, and maybe I would be if my kids didn't need their mom, yes; this is somewhat about proving a point."

"Okay, Danny, you proved it. Now can you just start listening to me?"

"I know what I'm doing, Steve."

"You know what? Get your ass shot." Steve answered with clear frustration but his response was certainly not serious. "When we get the chance we will come in and get you."

"And that's my point! You don't think I can do anything without you!" Danny replied in a high pitched tone.

The guards looked at each other, here they were about to risk life and limb with a guy who was having a domestic on the phone with some unknown. "Can we do this?" One of them said.

"Right." Danny nodded. "You going to stay on the line?"

Steve closed his eyes with frustration. "Sure, at least I'll take comfort in the fact that it will be my voice saying 'I told you so' in your ear when you're taking your last breaths."

"Yeah, well, do me a favor and shut up until then."

Steve placed the phone back on speaker and threw it on the hood with frustration.

Chin and Kono threw each other a look as Grover rolled his eyes, the situation would be amusing if it wasn't so serious.

Danny pushed the door slightly, holding his breath like it would save him if the door was rigged. He got it open a couple of inches before he flung it open. He gripped his gun tightly, with the intensity that Steve has when he leads his team, the time when Danny usually follows with not even a quarter of his enthusiasm. He scanned the room, training his gun on every inch of it until he was happy. "Clear." He whispered as he stepped forward, with the guards in tow.

"Danny, I can freeze the feed from the cameras in the lobby. He shouldn't be able to see you crossing the room but it will do an automatic reset in 30 seconds. You need to be on the far side to the right of the café door. There is a blind spot where none of the cameras cover." Kono said. "You ready?"

"I guess." Danny answered.

Kono keyed in some commands. "Okay. Now."

"Move." He ordered as they crossed the room quickly and sought refuge behind a row of chairs in the specified spot.

Duke stepped over with a cell phone in his hand and held it out for Steve. "It's Kap'oa. He wants to talk."

Steve looked at the officer and then down at the cell phone. He hesitated for a moment before grabbing hold of it and stepping away. "This is Lieutenants Commander Steve McGarrett."

"All I wanted to do was speak to the doctor." Kap'oa answered, his voice trembling with sadness.

Steve believed Kap'oa was finally understanding the magnitude of what he'd done. Unfortunately that could tip a suspect either way. They decide they want to hand themselves in, or they figure they have nothing to lose. The latter was often a more dangerous suspect than one with their faculties in place.

"I just wanted him to understand that I can't lose my son." Kap'oa continued.

Steve hesitated for a moment, he had to be careful with his words and tone. He needed to be understanding but without sounding patronizing. He wasn't a father, he certainly wasn't qualified to relate to a father who was facing the death of his child, though he could sympathize, to some extent, with the pain this man had felt which finally caused him to snap. "Kai. We know about Jayden. We know about what happened with Lowrey, how he was the one who hit your son and paid you off to stay quiet. We know there is something deeper going on with him, and I promise you we will help you with whatever it is, but please; please try and see that this is not the way." He implored.

"I never intended to kill the lady in the lobby." He continued. "I just got carried away. I wanted to let them know how serious I was."

"We got the message loud and clear, Kai." Steve answered sincerely. "We are all listening now."

"Steve." Chin said quietly as he stepped over. "The woman in the lobby, she's alive, only just. We need to get a team in there to get her out."

Steve nodded with acknowledgement to his colleague.

"My son is such a strong kid. He was born premature, he had a hole in his heart, had to have surgery three days after he was born. The chances of him making it through were low, but he did. He came through all that." Kap'oa explained.

"Tell me exactly what you want, and I'll take it to whoever I have too." Steve replied.

"I want my son back, but at the very least I want to give him the chance to fight."

"Okay. So I'll speak to the hospital board, see what can be done." Steve answered.

"I want him to know how much I loved him. And that if he does come through, that he knows that I did this because I had too."

"You can tell him that when you come out."

Kap'oa smiled bitterly as tears streamed down his face. "If my son was to pull through, and I was to get out of here alive, I would never permit him to see me behind reinforced glass for the rest of my life. The moment I shot the first bullet, I knew that I would have to be dead to him no matter what."

Steve sighed. "I know there is something much deeper than your son's prognosis behind this. If you tell me what it is, why you've gone this far; I can try to help you. But you've got to give me something."

Kap'oa paused as he considered Steve's words, but he remained silent.

"Then at least allow the Paramedics to come in and help the woman you shot in the lobby." He said. "You do that, and it will show you were willing to cooperate."

Kap'oa again hesitated, a silence that was filled with anticipation from Steve. "One paramedic. No cops. If I see anyone coming towards this room, or anyone else out there, I have no choice but to take action."

"I understand." Steve answered.

"You make them listen to you. You make them promise that they will help my son, I see action; I'll finish this peacefully." Kap'oa continued.

"I'm going to work on that right now. Okay? You just need to sit tight." He replied.


	4. Chapter 4

Steve stepped over to the group. "Lou, I need you to track down the director of the hospital. We need to find out exactly what this kids prognosis is."

"You got it." Lou nodded as he clutched his cell phone and walked away.

"Commander?" Duke called out as he walked over with a tablet in his hand. "That cell phone footage from the first crime scene, CSU found it whilst they were moving the bodies. They said you would be interested in it."

Steve nodded as he reached out for the device and placed it down on the hood of the car. Kono and Chin huddled around him before he pressed play.

Steve frowned. "Wait, who is this guy?" he pointed.

"That's Lowrey." Kono frowned.

Steve looked up to her. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Chin raised his eyebrows. "Lowrey standing behind Kap'oa and it looks like he is the one firing. Not Kap'oa."

Kono's eyes widened. "If Lowrey was trying to kill his own staff, then how come none of the witnesses have mentioned that?"

"A couple of shots ring out, people dive for cover. Mass panic. It could easily be missed." Steve shrugged.

"So what do you think?" Chin asked. "Kap'oa was an assailant?"

"Or he was set up to take the fall." Steve answered. "I mean, you think about it. This family has been at this guy's mercy for months, that's all detailed. Kap'oa doesn't strike me as a person who has the experience to pull off this kind of job. The cameras were all disconnected, the staff were called in to a meeting, which even some of the survivors said was a first time event. But Kap'oa's beef is with Lowrey, so if he had a gun in his hand, then why didn't he turn on Lowrey?"

"Maybe Lowrey gave him a unloaded weapon." Chin nodded.

"Wait…" Kono said as she turned back to her laptop and clicked some keys, pulling up a report.

"What you got?" Steve asked.

"There was something in one of the witness statements that didn't seem relevant at the time." She answered as she scanned through the details. "Here; one of the walking wounded said that not only was the meeting an unusual event, but that seating had been determined with place cards at the table. He remembered it because it seemed much more formal than anything he'd experienced at the quarry before."

"I don't get it?" Chin answered.

"If Lowrey had specific targets in that room then arranging a seating plan would have been a good way to position them." Steve replied.

"Exactly." Kono answered.

"We need to find Lowrey." Steve nodded.

"An APB is already out for him, and all medical centers and hospitals have been alerted." Chin replied.

"Okay, extend the warrant to include TSA. I don't want this guy getting off the island."

"I'll do that now." Chin nodded.

Steve sighed. "So say Lowrey was responsible for this, I think we can safely say that Kap'oa was just an easy target and scape goat. There's two sides to the investigation. One being what he had over Kap'oa to compel him to go along with this?"

"My guess is it has to do with his son. Perhaps Lowrey threatened to cease further payment on his treatment."

Steve nodded. "Plausible, but now what made these certain staff members targets with Lowrey? What is hiding?"

"Whatever it is it has to be something hidden or running out of the quarry." Kono answered.

"I want that place turned upside down. If there's even a rock that looks out of place I want it checked."

"I'm on it." Kono nodded.

"Steve, I've got the hospitals chief medical officer on the line." Lou said as he walked over. "Doctor Philip Morris."

"Doctor Morris." Steve said as he held the phone to his ear.

"Commander, ever since the hospital went into lock down and the identity of the assailant was determined I have been looking into his sons case files." The doctor replied. "Now Captain Grover said that Mr Kap'oa was under the impression that Jayden suffered an irreversible aneurysm."

"That's right."

Morris paused. "I don't know what's going but the case files state differently. Jayden did suffer some bleeding on the brain, but that was being successfully treated and in the latest MRI it shows that it's cleared."

"I don't understand."

"No, neither do I. Nor do I understand why the child has been kept heavily sedated and on a ventilator for the past week in ICU." Morris answered.

"So are you telling me that Jayden Kap'oa is not critical?"

"From his official charts, I can categorically say that it is not the case. However, I would have to assess the child myself to make that a guarantee."

Steve sighed. "Who is Jayden's doctor?"

"Doctor Frank Neo." Morris replied.

"Lou, look for a connection between a Doctor Frank Neo and Lowrey." Steve ordered.

"I can tell you right now that there will be one." Morris answered. "Doctor Neo was brought in to treat Jayden exclusively at the request of Mr Lowrey. He and an intern were flown over from Mercer private hospital in New York."

Steve grinned as the pieces started to slip into place. "Where's Doctor Neo right now?"

"He volunteered to conduct surgery for other patients over the past three days, he was rostered for an OR, but the staff register shows he never turned up."

"Is it common for people to insist on a specific doctor and go as far as bringing them out?"

"It's rare, I've only ever seen it once before and that was for a high profile celebrities 6 year old daughter, who contracted an infection by stepping on coral. This kind of luxury, for lack of better words, is only usually exercised by VIP's or people with the money and the means, but it can happen."

"Doctor Morris, where are you now?"

"I'm inside the hospital. They asked me to evacuate in the first attempt but this is my hospital, and these people are my responsibility. I can access files a lot easier on sight so if you need any more information, please, call me."

"I really appreciate your help so far. Please stay safe, sir."

"Thank you commander."

"I can't find any connections between Frank Neo and Lowrey." Lou shook his head.

"It's there Lou." Steve said softly. "You don't just fly a random doctor out from New York. Look back into Lowrey's past, find out how far it goes back. I'm thinking it's an alias and I'm thinking his previous life was back in New York."

"Commander?" A uniformed officer stepped over. "The EMT's are about to enter."

"Thank you." Steve nodded before dialing out and holding his cell to his ear, he rolled his eyes with frustration when the phone went to voice mail. "Danny, EMT's are coming in to get the injured woman. They're going to slide a comm unit toward your direction, if you can get it you can keep in touch with us more freely. But listen to me, you need to lay low, we're getting somewhere with this case but I don't want anything spooking Kap'oa into doing anything else stupid."

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

Danny and the two security guards watched, behind the cover of the chairs in the foyer, as the two EMT's removed the patient. They had taken the opportunity to slide the comm unit towards the trio's location when Kap'oa had stepped away from the small window in the door for just a few seconds. The small box had slid right up to him and straight into his grip as if it were a well-rehearsed dance. Danny fumbled with the lid, opening it up and pushing it into his ear. "Steve…" he whispered.

"Danny." Steve's eyes widened as he heard his best friend through his own ear piece. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." He sighed. "I'm getting impatient, but I'm fine."

"Okay, well we got some traction on this case."

"Enlighten me…" Danny whispered.

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

"Kono." Chin said as he answered his cell.

"We got something." She answered. "The dogs picked up a sent over by what looks like a ground filtration system."

"Kap'oa's wife mentioned something about the quarry having something fitted last year, that was part of the reason why they were having trouble with Lowrey, it didn't seem to be working and was causing excessive run off through their property."

"Yeah, well it wouldn't have worked because it's not operational. The pipes are heavy duty, but they are packed with bags of crystal meth."

"We need to find out who knew about this little side business Lowrey had going."

"I'm heading to the hospital now to speak to the staff. I'll let you know." Kono replied.

"Okay" Chin nodded.

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

"When you're right, you're right." Lou said as he stepped over to Steve with his tablet.

"You got something?" Steve asked as he handed Lou a comm unit to keep Danny in the conversation.

"So you wanted a connection, I got it for you." Lou answered as he pushed the ear piece in. "Frank Neo finished his medical degree in Boston back in 1995, he moved out to Nevada to work for a general practice where he apparently formed a fairly close friendship with a guy called Ray Hynes." He started. "In 1998 there was an investigation into Hynes and his involvement in a number of corporate crimes. Embezzlement, money laundering and the list goes on. At the same time Hynes two business associates of Hynes were kidnapped and murdered, Police thought he could have been involved but they had no evidence and since he was only being investigated for white collar crimes they admitted it was unlikely. Neo was marked to be subpoenaed by the prosecution because they had reason to believe he knew what was going on, given his close relationship to Hynes."

"So what happened?" Steve asked.

"At the end of 1998, before the police had a chance to gain enough evidence to proceed against Hynes, he left the country to participate in the blue water classic down in Sydney, on a small yacht he had a share in. The Lady Rose."

"The blue water what?" Danny whispered.

"It's a yacht race. Starts in Sydney and finishes in Hobart, Tasmania."

"Of course you would know that." Danny growled.

"I only know that because if any of the fleet were down that way, when the race was being held, we could potentially be asked to assist during an emergency." Steve answered. "Like the events in that particular race in 1998, when the race yachts head into a fierce storm." He said, looking at Lou as if he knew where this was going.

"That's right. Yachts went head first into a storm comparable with a low grade tropical cyclone. Six sailors drowned and bodies were recovered, four were never found and 55 rescued." Lou answered.

"Let me guess, this Hynes was one of the four never found." Danny replied.

"Right, they did find parts of the yacht smashed up against rocks about 83 miles south of the start; and since the four missing were all from the same vessel they had no reason to think anything suspicious had happened, other than just being victims of a severe weather event." Lou added. "The investigation faded away, Neo was never called up." He shrugged. "Fast forward two years and Lowrey shows up in Oahu, starts a well-respected business which provides or contributes to countless jobs for people on the island."

Steve's shoulders drop.

"I got a mug shot sent over from the PD in Nevada of an arrest made in 97 and compared it to an article written in a small business magazine in 2001 , Lowrey is Hayne, without a question."

"This is really good work, Lou." Steve answered. "We got a connection, we got a history of criminal activity."

"The good news doesn't stop there." Chin announced as he walked over. "Thanks to Kono and CSU we now have proof that Lowrey was into something much bigger than quarrying the natural kind of rocks. They've uncovered a substantial stash of Crystal Meth in the irrigation pipes of the quarry, they still have more to recover, but so far we are looking at a street value of over 10 million dollars." He continued. "Kono just spoke to the wife of one of the victims who is listed as critical. She said that her husband had been worried about something at work for some time. He was talking about leaving but he wouldn't tell her anything other than he didn't approve with some of Lowrey's business dealings."

"He knew about Lowrey's side business." Danny whispered.

"And I'd put money on everyone else who was critically injured or killed knowing about it too." Steve replied. "It was all starting to unravel for Lowrey, he was desperate to keep it under wraps."

"The irrigation, that's what Kap'oa approached Lowrey about initially." Lou nodded.

"That's right." Chin answered. "My guess is that Kap'oa went to check out the irrigation himself, found out why it wasn't working. He was either made by someone or he blackmailed Lowrey."

"Either way, Lowrey had Kap'oa's family to threaten to keep his silence." Steve nodded as he pulled out his cell phone in response to a message that had been sent to him. He sighed with relief before initiating a call.

"What's happening? What are you doing?" Lou asked.

"I'm telling Kap'oa that we know what's been going on. And tell him that Doctor Morris has assessed his son and there is every indication that Jayden is going to make a full recovery. Hopefully I can talk him down and into ending this peacefully."


	5. Chapter 5

Rachel looked across the room and noted two of the children were becoming increasingly unwell.

"Please…" a middle aged man said as he held his daughters limp body in his hands. "My daughter needs her medication. We only came down for a drink and some fresh air, we weren't supposed to be as long as we have been." He pleaded with Kap'oa.

Kap'oa looked at the man before looking at the child.

"Just let my daughter go." He continued.

Kap'oa lowered his head. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I can't do that."

Rachel reached for the cell phone from under her purse and opened up a message.

Danny's cell soon vibrated, indicating a message. He read it silently before wincing with frustration. "Guys…" he said through the Comm unit.

"Yeah Danny, go." Grover answered.

"Rachel just sent me another message. Two of the kids inside are in need of urgent medical attention." He whispered.

"Okay, McGarrett is just calling Kap'oa. I'll pass it on to him." Lou answered as he scribbled down a message onto a piece of paper.

"Kia, its Commander McGarrett." Steve started. "Listen to me. What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to believe, but you have to trust me."

Kap'oa frowned as he held the cell phone hard against his ear. Beads of sweat shrouded his face.

"Jayden. Jayden is fine." Steve continued. "The doctor who was taking care of him, he was on Lowrey's books. He has been keeping your son heavily sedated to make it look like he was in a coma. It wasn't picked up by the medical staff because Lowrey had his own doctor and intern on the case. The chief medical officer at the hospital is currently bringing him out of the sedation, but none of the scans, that they have done in the past couple of hours, are showing any traces of damage to his brain. Certainly nothing to the extent of damage you were told about." He paused. "Kai, Jayden is off the ventilator and breathing on his own."

Kap'oa coughed with disbelief, for a split second he was overwhelmed with joy. It didn't take long for suspicion to set in and cloud his happiness. "How can I trust you? How can I trust anyone?"

Steve was hoping Kap'oa wouldn't question him, that he would just take his word for it and end this right now, but he wasn't surprised. "I don't expect you to trust me." he replied. "The doctor thinks that Jayden will be fully awake within the hour. When he's ready, the doctor is going to video call you on your cell. You can see for yourself."

Kap'oa hesitated for a moment. "You're serious. You're not bluffing just to try and get me to stand down?"

"I would never play that kind of game when the life of a child is involved. I know what happened between you and Lowrey, I know he's been bribing you because you found the drugs. I know that it wasn't your negligence that got Jayden injured. I know that Lowrey was the one who fired the shots at his employees and framed it to look like it was you."

Kap'oa closed his eyes, relief filled his expression. "Lowrey, he wanted me to go down. He'll kill me, he'll kill my family, now you guys know that it wasn't me."

"We're working on finding Lowrey as we speak, we got guards upstairs with your son and your wife has been taken to HPD for protection." Steve answered.

Kap'oa looked at his hostages. "You might know all that. But it still doesn't excuse what I have done to these people. It still doesn't change what I did to that poor woman."

Lou passed the message to Steve.

"No, it doesn't." Steve answered as he scanned the words. "But it explains why you did what you did. That you were desperate to save your son and that you didn't want to give up." he paused. "The woman you shot, you missed all her vital organs, she's lost a lot of blood but the doctors are confident she'll be okay. This is good, Kai. Right now it's important that nothing else happens to make your case worse, okay?"

"Okay."

"I need you to tell me if you have a explosive device in there with you?"

"No, I have something the door that I put there to make it look like it was, but it's just the casing."

"You certain of that?" Steve pushed.

"Yeah. I promise you." He nodded.

"That's good, Kai. That's really good."

He started to crack under the realization of what he had done, what he had put these poor people through. "I was just so sick of being told what to do. What to think." Kap'oa said as his voice splintered. "Sick of being held ransom. I just wanted someone to listen to me, take me seriously. I'm just a farmer who never anything than to provide for my family. This is not me. I'm not someone who tries to kill."

"I know that." Steve answered. "And any judge will be able to see that." He paused. "Kai, tell me something. How are the hostages? Are they all doing okay?"

He looked around again, this time his sight rested on the father and the small girl. "There are two kids, they don't look too good."

"Okay." Steve answered, relieved that Kap'oa was trusting him enough to cooperate. "Like I said, we don't want to make the situation any worse. Would you consider releasing those two kids and their parents? Also let us evacuate some of the mobile patients that are in other areas of the building? You still have enough leverage in there."

Kap'oa's eyes watered, he saw his own son in these children. "Yeah, yeah. Of course."

Steve closed his eyes with relief. "That's great, Kai. You're doing the right thing." He answered as he waved at Lou. "I'm going to send one of my men down to the foyer door. He's not going to come in and he'll be unarmed, he's just going to wait outside and he'll lead the kids and their parents to help."

"Okay." Kap'oa nodded.

"The others are waiting by the doors on the east side. They're just going to walk straight out, no one is going to enter. You got it?"

"Yes." Kap'oa nodded as he looked at the screen on his tablet.

"You're doing great, Kai. Hang tight and I'll get back to you." Steve answered encouragingly as he stepped over to Lou and hung up the phone.

"He's going to let them out?" Lou asked.

"Yeah." He whispered. "Danny, there's going to be some movement again. I got this guy on side right now. It's real important that you stay out of sight, if he finds out that you are in there then whatever trust I've gained is going to be out the window."

"Steve, I'm lying face down under a bunch of chairs, behind a partition. I'm invisible." Danny growled softly.

Lou removed his gun from his holster and placed it on the hood of the car. "I'll head on over there."

"Thanks." Steve whispered.

Kap'oa looked around the room, nervously. "Okay." He said, his voice shaking with fear. "You and your kids, you're free to go." He nodded to the two parents who held their sick children.

There was a buzz in the room, people chatted below their breath. Many looked around, their faces pleading with Kap'oa to consider releasing them.

"I don't want to hurt anyone." He said softly. "Once I have confirmation that my son is okay, I'll be releasing all of you."

"You don't want to hurt anyone, but you continue to wave that gun around." A young man said as he sat near the front of the group.

Kap'oa glared at the man, at first he was angry with him for challenging but eventually he could see he was right. The safety clicked on and he pushed the weapon down under his belt. "Go…" he whispered to the four people he had released.

They hurried out of the door and straight out to the main entrance. Lou held his arms out to usher them towards awaiting medics.

Chin was there coordinating the bulk evacuation on the east side, he calmly indicated for the group to walk through the door and keep going. "Walk straight ahead, no one is to reenter."

Steve viewed the release and exhaled deeply with relief. "Duke, I'll be back." He said before running towards the large crowd.

"Grace!" Steve called out as he searched the congregation. "Charlie?"

"Steve!" Grace replied as she grabbed Charlie's hand and hurried through the gathering.

"Oh thank god." He whispered as they approached, clutching them tightly as they embraced him.

"Where's my mom and dad?" Grace asked.

Steve knelt down and looked up at Grace. "Your dad is still in there, he's trying to help the people your mom's trapped with. Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going fine, it won't be long until their out and this is over." He said softly. "I want you to come sit in my truck until they come out, okay?"

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Kap'oa's cell phone sounded. His heart skipped as he saw the request for a video call was being sent to him. He answered. The screen lit up with his son's face, Jayden was smiling and waving at him."

"Oh my god…" Kap'oa gushed as his eyes spilt tears.

"Daddy, can I go home now?" The little boy asked.

"Soon Jay, very soon." He answered softly. "You just stay with the doctor until your mom can come get you."

"Okay." Jayden replied.

Kap'oa ended the call and dialed another number. "I just saw my son. I want to end this now. Tell me what to do."

Steve sighed, closing his eyes and dropping his head. "You just need to let them go. Tell them to walk out the door with their hands above their heads. You'll need to stay where you are, lie down on the floor, face down and unarmed. We'll move in and secure you. You do all that, and you'll be fine."

"Got it." Kap'oa answered. "And Commander, thank you."

"I am going to do everything I can to help your case. I promise you." Steve added.

"I know you will." Kap'oa answered as he hung up on the call.

"Steve…" Duke said as he walked over.

"Duke, can you tell all HPD units that Kap'oa is releasing the hostages. He is standing down. Chin, Lou and myself will go in and take him into custody." he said.

"So you don't need the Police negotiator that just entered the building?"

"Police negotiator? I didn't request a police negotiator." Steve frowned. "I was holding the negotiations."

"That's what I thought, but a negotiator and two SWAT officers just entered the south side. My guys said they had all the correct paperwork to enter, signed off by the chief of police."

"Call through to them, tell them to pull back immediately." He growled with urgency. "Any changes to the plan and it could spook Kap'oa."

Duke lowered his head towards the radio microphone on his shirt and turned away.

"I'll speak to the SWAT captain, they run off two channels, get him to try through their auxiliary." Lou nodded.

Danny noticed three pairs of feet at the external door to the foyer. "Steve, we got movement."

"Danny, it's a police negotiator with SWAT. Can you quietly tell them to pull back?"

"How do you want me to do that? My sign language is a little rusty. Smoke signals? Will smoke signals do? I could just set one of the security guards I'm with on fire." Danny snarled.

"Danny. I have already given the game plan to Kap'oa and it didn't involve two armed tactical police officers entering the building."

"He's letting the hostages out." Danny answered as his attention was drawn to the bustle of people exiting and filtering through the foyer.

"Son of a bitch." Steve whispered nervously. "This is exactly the time we don't want Kap'oa being confronted."

"Those SWAT guys." Duke said. "They're not responding to any of the radio calls."

"That's because they're not SWAT." Lou answered as he hurried over. "I just spoke to Captain Ioni, he didn't assign two of his guys to escort a negotiator and he sure as hell didn't authorize anyone of his team to enter. Furthermore, all his men are accounted for."

"Danny, we have to treat those three as hostiles." Steve called urgently before gunshots rang out. Steve paused, his eyes widened as he looked toward the foyer doors. Hostages hurried out, clambering and pushing into one another to flee the shots firing. "Danny! What's going on in there?"

The comm was silent, Danny didn't answer.

Steve's heart started to pace as he instinctively knew something was very wrong. "Danny!" he called as he bolted down to the building. He clutched his gun tightly as he allowed the stream of people to exit. The shooting had stopped, but he still hadn't heard anything that suggested Danny was okay.

"Steve… Danny's in there." Rachel cried out as she came barreling through the door. "I think he's been hit."

Lou and Chin arrived, standing behind Steve and as ready to enter as he was.

"Go. Go. Go." He instructed Rachel. "The kids are in my truck over there. Go be with them."

She nodded and ran across the parking lot towards the direction he'd pointed too.

Steve could feel his body shaking, he had played this scenario so many times in his nightmares, the thought that one day he would deal with losing Danny. He'd been thankful that every time he'd woken up and that it had just been his over active imagination, but now was the reality. This was no nightmare, this was happening. He held his gun up and entered the foyer, scoping the surroundings as he walked towards the center of the room. Lou and Chin followed, taking each perimeter.

"Danny!" Steve called out.

"I got Kap'oa." Chin answered as he knelt down next to a body and checked for a pulse. He shook his head. "He's alive, but barely."

Lou looked down to see the two security guards, face down with multiple gunshot wounds on their backs. He knew they were dead."

Two other men, one dressed in smart attire and one in a SWAT uniform lay on the floor near the door. Steve kicked their weapons away from their reach although judging by their injuries they were not going to get back up again. "Lou, the third one is missing. Get everyone outside to lock the perimeter down."

"You got it." Lou answered.

"Danny!" Steve called out, his voice more impatient than concerned now.

The door to the room the hostages had been kept in opened slightly and both Chin and Steve turned quickly, training their guns. A young girl, no more than 10, appeared. She widened her eyes with fear when she saw the two men with their weapons pointed at her.

Steve lowered his gun slightly and stood straight. "Hey, hey it's okay. We're police officers."

"There's a guy in here. He's hurt real bad."

Steve ran over to the door, scoping the room before holstering his gun after deeming it safe. Danny was lying behind the door, sitting up against the wall and blood smeared on the surface behind him where he obviously slipped down. "Danny." Steve whispered as he knelt down next to him and felt his wrist.

Chin frowned. "Is he alive?"


	6. Chapter 6

Danny's eyes were open but at first glance Steve had been sure he was gone. There was a nothingness in them that he'd seen so many times before. But when he had pressed his fingers against his partner's neck, and felt the shallow pulse of his heartbeat, he was quietly elated. Steve could see the gunshot to Danny's chest, it was bleeding excessively and so he knew that he was by no means out of danger. "I need a doctor in here, right now!" he called out urgently.

Chin quickly stepped away. "10-4. Officer down."

Rachel heard the call through Duke's radio as she stood by Steve's vehicle with her children. Her eyes widened with panic as she attempted to make a run back for the building. "DANNY!" she shouted, her voice filled with blood curdling panic.

Duke grabbed hold of her, pushing her gently back toward Steve's truck. "We don't know who it is. It could be one of my guys." He said softly.

But Rachel knew. Call it instinct, call it a gut response, call it what you will; she knew. Still, she backed down as soon as she saw Grace's expression filled with immense fear.

Steve put pressure against Danny's wound, it was so dire that his hand was covered in a thick layer of blood almost immediately.

Danny gasped for air and his eyes seemed to come back to life slightly, though his skin was grey. He coughed, causing a small trickle of blood to seep down from the corner of his mouth. "Grace? Charlie?"

"They're fine. They're up at my truck with Rachel." Steve answered.

"Steve…" he whispered, his breathing shallow. "I don't feel good."

"I know, buddy. I know." Steve answered as he trembled, the mere thought of having Danny die in his arms was petrifying. "But you're going to be fine, alright? You just need to push through this. You need to stay awake, okay?"

"Everything feels numb." Danny struggled to say. "And I'm tired; I'm so tired."

"Look at me Danny." Steve gasped as he pulled him down into his arms. "Just keep your eyes open and keep looking at me. You think of Grace, Charlie, whatever keeps you going."

Danny's eyes closed for just a second but enough to alarm Steve. He shook his best friend.

"Hey!" Steve growled. "Don't you do this to me, Danny. Okay?" he shouted. "You can't give up right now."

Danny was jolted back to consciousness.

"I NEED THAT DOCTOR!" Steve shouted, his voice commanding yet it was begging.

"Steve. We only have one doctor free, and Kap'oa is critical too." Chin said softly. "What do you want to do?"

Steve closed his eyes, his jaw tightened. It felt like an impossible situation.

"Steve, I'm done. You know that." Danny whispered. "Just make sure Kap'oa gets to see his son again."

"No." Steve shook his head, his eyes glistening with tears.

"Citizens should always come before us. That's why we do this job. When it comes down to it, you help them first."

Perhaps Danny was right, but he had to live with the guilt of giving up on Freddie and he knew he couldn't do that again. At the same time he knew that Kap'oa was an innocent party in all of this as well. "No. You're not done."

"Steve?" Chin whispered.

"Get the doctor to deal with Kap'oa. Do whatever you have to do to get another one in here. I'll stay with Danny, treat him as best I can."

"Copy." Chin nodded.

Steve looked back to Danny. His best friend had an expression on his face that was almost peaceful, again something Steve had seen too many times before. It was that look when someone had accepted their fate. "I swear to god, Danny." He said, gritting his teeth as his emotions reached boiling point.

"I did what I needed to do. Right?" Danny said softly. "I lasted long enough to help Charlie."

"Yes you did." Steve answered, nodding as tears streamed down his face. "But you have so much more you need to do. You need to be in that little guys life, and Gracie's."

"Steve…" he said softly. "I need you to do something."

"Danny, I'm not passing any messages on to Charlie and Grace. You got something to say to them, you say it yourself." Steve shook his head unsympathetically.

"No. It's not that, we've been in these situations before, you know the drill." Danny paused as he struggled to fill his lungs with air. "I need you to tell Rachel something. Something really, really, important."

"Hold on." Steve snapped as he pulled out a radio. "Duke, you copy?"

"Yeah, Steve. Go ahead." Duke replied.

"Is Rachel Edwards there?"

"Yeah."

"Give her the radio." Steve ordered.

Duke stepped over to Rachel and passed her the handheld. "It's for you."

"Danny?" She said hesitantly.

Danny coughed, this time even more blood appeared. His eyes were heavy and he was starting to show all the signs of incoherence.

"Hey, hey!" Steve snapped. "Here, whatever you have to say to her, you say it right now." He said, holding up the radio to his partner's mouth.

"Rachel?" Danny said softly.

"Oh thank god." Rachel gushed with relief.

"Listen to me." Danny whispered. "I am so sorry, the way I've treated you since I found out about Charlie. I want you to know…" he paused, fighting the urge to slip away.

"Danny; what's happening." She called urgently.

"I want you to know that I understand why you did what you did. You were trying to protect them from exactly what is happening now. I get that. But I am so glad that I got the chance to be his dad, even if it was only for a couple of weeks." He gasped. "And I need you to know…" he paused for a moment. "I want you to know that I love you. I always have."

Steve swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of his throat as he lowered his head.

Rachel's heart skipped, it was something she'd wanted to hear for so long but she was now fully aware of the circumstance he was in that had brought him to say this now.

"Look after them, okay?" he whispered, his voice so quiet it was only just audible.

"Danny!" She called back. "Danny you're scaring me."

Danny's eyes drifted up to Steve's as his breathing labored, he pushed Steve's hand away with the radio. "I'll have a beer waiting for you. On me." He whispered.

Steve stifled a laugh through his heartbreak. "It's always on you. And you better mean you'll have that beer waiting at nowhere else but Side Street."

Danny's lips thinned into a faint smile before his eyes closed and his head fell back slightly.

"Danny!" Steve snapped, hoping that he would jolt him awake again, but this time it didn't work. There was absolutely no response of any kind. "DANNY!" he shouted, laying his partner down on the floor and checking his vitals. That pulse he had felt before had gone. He positioned himself beside Danny and commenced CPR.

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Kono's car came to screeching halt and she was out of the door in breakneck speed. She ran over to Lou. "What's happening? HPD said Danny had been shot?"

"He was. His heart stopped, but Steve managed to get him back. They were trying to stabilize him for surgery." Lou answered somberly. "But, honestly, they weren't expecting him to pull through, Kono."

Kono lifted her hands to her head and stepped back.

"Rachel's up with him, she said she'd let us know. He'd lost so much blood that even the EMT's were surprised Steve had revived him."

"Where is Steve now?" She asked.

"Still inside. Chin is trying to get through to him, encourage him to come outside, but he said it's like Steve has just shut down."

Kono nodded before she ran towards the doors.

Chin stood silently next to Steve as he sat on the floor, leaning against the wall with his knees pulled up against his chest. He glared into thin air, his eyes vacant.

Kono appeared at the door, looking at the heartbreaking scene. Danny's blood pooled just to the side of Steve and evidence of his struggle to fight for Danny's life. Steve's hands were still pasted in a thick layer of dry blood and his clothes stained.

Chin reached down and touched Steve on the arm. "I'll be two minutes." He whispered.

Steve offered no response.

Chin walked over toward Kono, indicating for her to go back out of the room. He sighed. "I don't know what to do." He shrugged. "It's like he's completely closed off."

"He's probably just lost his best friend." Kono whispered. "You couldn't blame him."

Chin nodded. "It's worse than that."

She frowned.

"It came down to a choice, one doctor, two patients. Have Kap'oa treated first or Danny. Danny insisted it should be Kap'oa, that's the decision Steve went with, though reluctantly." He paused as he looked back through the door at Steve's shell. "So in his mind, in the highly likely event that Danny doesn't pull through..."

"Then Steve would believe he was responsible for Danny's death."

"Exactly." Chin whispered. "We have to get him out of here."

"I'll try." She nodded gently as she pushed past her cousin and back into the room.

"Chin?" Lou said over the radio.

"Yeah?"

"HPD have picked up the third shooter. They want to know if we want him." Lou asked.

"They really needed to ask that?" Chin gritted his teeth. "Tell them to take him back to the Palace."

"You got it." Lou answered.

Kono stepped over gently and knelt down next to Steve. "Hey, boss." She whispered softly.

Steve stayed frozen.

"We got to get you out of here, okay?" she continued. "Get you cleaned up and then we'll bring you back to see Danny."

Steve blinked heavily, the first sign of life since Danny had been taken away. His eyes drifted to hers.

She frowned. His expression was childlike, an appearance of a vulnerability that she had never ever seen before from him. She found it disconcerting and yet, in some ways, comforting. "Come on…" she whispered, holding her hand out to him.

He hesitated for a moment, his eyes dropping down to her hand before he reached out to her. He gripped her tightly as he pushed himself up to his feet.


	7. Chapter 7

Chin and Kono sat in Chin's office silently. There was just nothing they could say to comfort each other. Words were just meaningless right now when they both knew the score. Up until now they had both appeared strong just for Steve's sake, moving through the motions of positivity, they knew he didn't buy it but cracking in front of him would have only made things worse.

Now, together, they could reflect on what had happened, the situation and dare to consider the possibilities of what would happen next. Kono was drawn back to Steve, his expression kept invading her thoughts. They had always looked to him to be strong, to steer them through any rough water, but this was a step too far. She had felt incredibly protective of him, like they had shared a connection in adversity, that she just wanted to take care of him and guide him through his pain like he'd done for all of them so many times before. He'd responded to her, and she felt privileged for that. It was her responsibility to keep him from falling.

Lou pushed his way into the office and thinned his lips. Chin looked up. "Anything?"

"Rachel just called me on the way in. Danny had to be revived again, they got him back but they said they couldn't wait any longer for him to go into surgery, despite the risks of operating without stabilizing. They got him in an OR at the children's hospital. If he makes it out he'll be transferred to Tripler."

Kono closed her eyes and looked away.

"Side note, I just ran into Duke. Our runner is down in rendition." Lou nodded.

"I can take this one on my own, if you want?" Chin whispered to Kono.

"No." she shook her head. "No. I want to be in on this one." She replied bitterly and her tone dripping with determination.

"Where's Steve?" Lou asked, looking around.

"He went to go clean up." Kono replied softly.

"Has he said anything?" Lou continued.

Kono paused before looking up to him, shaking her head gently. "No."

Lou nodded. "Rachel asked me to get him back to the hospital. She said she needs him to be there with her and Danny."

"Yeah, but we should give him some space for now." Kono nodded.

"I got to say, I'm worried. Losing Danny, under any circumstances, would be hard-hitting for Steve. But with what went down. This will destroy him." Chin voiced.

Kono frowned before standing up and walking to the door.

"Where you going?" Chin asked.

"You're right, it will destroy him. We can't do anything for Danny but we can for Steve. I'm going to get him back to the hospital, he needs to be close."

Lou slumped down into the chair. "What are the chances of her making that happen?"

Chin's eyes darted to Lou's. "I don't know, but if anyone can do it, I figure it's going to be her."

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Kono pushed her way into the restrooms, Steve had his back to her as he frantically pawed at his hands, trying desperately to clean them under warm water from the tap. She turned and locked the door then walked carefully towards him. "Boss?" she whispered.

Steve looked up to the mirror and froze, his eyes held on her reflection. There was that distinct metallic odor of blood in the room, it never really had much effect on her before now, but knowing it was Danny's had made her stomach turn. Still, she chose to block it out of her mind.

"I can't get the blood off." He whispered as he held out his hands and turned, shaking uncontrollably.

She looked at them, the only blood she could see was from his own scratched and raw skin. Clearly he was oblivious that he'd cleaned Danny's blood away but in the process, perhaps due to somewhat of an obsession, he had inflicted injury to himself.

"It's okay." She whispered sympathetically. She grabbed a towel from the counter and cradled his hands in hers. Gently she dabbed his skin.

Steve's eyes drifted to hers. "Is he dead?"

Kono looked at him. "No. He's in surgery. They're doing everything they can." She whispered.

He gasped for breath, perhaps it was relief but it didn't feel like it.

"Rachel's asking for you." Kono whispered cautiously.

His eyes hardened.

"She wants you there with her." Kono added.

"I can't." Steve answered, panic etched into his face suddenly. "I can't." he shook his head, unable to say anything else.

"That's okay." She answered gently back, she was determined to calm him down. "We can cover for you."

Steve stepped back, raising his arms and placing them over his head. "I should have seen it coming." he thinned his eyes. "When Duke said those people went in, I should have figured it out."

"Steve, there were cops everywhere. The place was supposed to be fortified. They fooled everyone." Kono answered.

He winced with sadness, pushing back the urge to breakdown. "I just keep going over it in my head." He whispered. "I wanted to chose Danny over Kap'oa. I was so close to doing it." He nodded. "But Danny, he was so brave and so clear minded, even in that position. He knew what he had to do, and for whatever reason, I couldn't go against that."

Kono's eyes glistened with tears as she nodded.

"I made a split second decision." He continued, his jaw tightening with frustration. "And I am afraid I am always going to regret it."

"If it had been you. If it had been you lying there, you would have told Danny to do the same thing." She nodded. "I know he would have made the same decision, he would have hated it just as much as you, but he would have done it. And it would be him standing here that I'd be having the exact same conversation too." She nodded. "On a daily basis we are put into life threatening situations that can turn bad any moment, we live on the edge, we say we know and accept the risks but the truth is that' we only accept our own fate. We, by no means, accept each other's." She whispered.

Steve's eyes drifted down, he had never thought about it in that way but it made complete sense. He sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't think I can ever look Rachel in the eyes, knowing my decision did this." He squeezed his eyes together. "And those kids; that I have probably taken their father away from them, Kono."

"Listen to me." She said sternly. "Danny is going to get through this. He has to."

Steve opened his eyes.

"And if he doesn't, you look into their eyes and know that you did everything you possibly could to save him. There's no shame in that. You made an impossible decision. They will know that, and they will not hate you for it." She lowered her head and sighed. "Your only problem will be you. Thinking that you deserve people being angry with you, and that you need them to make you suffer because you hate yourself for this happening. The truth is no one is going to punish you, for any of this, more than you will yourself."

Steve looked at her before his eyes floated down. "It's like I'm holding my breath. Like I can't breathe, until they tell us if he's safe or he's..." His voice trailed off, he couldn't even bring himself to say it. His expression cracked with sadness. "It's the worst feeling in the world, when you know you are powerless to do anything. Powerless to help." He struggled to find the words, perhaps it was because he was putting his heart on his sleeve, showing signs of weakness, but Kono seemed to make it almost acceptable for him to do so. "I lost four members of my SEAL team in Afghanistan, countless others who I indirectly served with. Freddie. My dad." He shrugged and shook his head. "Every one of those had something left to give. Had people who depended on them, missed so badly." He paused. "If I could have traded places with any of them, I would have. And I just keep thinking…" his voice hardened. Anger and frustration as he spoke of a topic that had haunted him many times before now. "I always end up asking myself, why wasn't it ever me instead of them?"

Kono frowned. "You don't think you having anything to offer or that you'd be missed?" she asked with disbelief. How could he possibly believe his life was worth less than anyone else's? "Steve, you are the anchor for so many people around here. You hold people together, you never give up on anyone and you've saved all of us in one way or another. You're still here because you're not done yet. And neither is Danny."

Despite her words being kind he couldn't agree. The fear and anger was clouding his vision. "I can't lose him, Kono." He whispered, his voice breaking with sorrow and tears spilling from his eyes as he started to sob gently.

She pulled him towards her, embracing him tightly. "I know." She whispered.

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Kono walked down the hallway, toward Chin who was waiting outside the interrogation room. He frowned. "Everything alright?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah." She nodded. "It is now."

Chin didn't push her, she was clearly shaken by whatever had happened. "Okay, so our SWAT imitator is Tyson Kehale. Local." He said as he passed her a folder.

Kono opened it up and flicked through the pages.

"He's got outstanding's and history for burglary, DUI's and possession but nothing to this extent."

"Any connections to Lowrey?" Kono asked.

"Not directly, but his brother worked at the quarry for six months back in 09." Chin replied.

Kono nodded gently as she glared at the sheet.

"Cuz, if you're not up to this I can get Lou down here?" he whispered softly.

"I already said I was good. I promise you, Chin. I'm good" She answered, her eyes burning into his.

"Okay." Chin nodded. "Let's talk to him."

The pair entered the room to find a medium built guy sitting in the chair, cuffed with his hands behind his back and sweat blistering on his skin. He froze as he watched them trail off to either sides of the room. His attention was drawn more to Kono. Her slight frame could be deceptive to any perpetrator on a normal day, they would be forgiven in seeing her as a low threat, but the fire in her eyes as she glared at him said otherwise.

Kehale lowered his head, shying away from her laser sharp stare.

"We have you on a string of offences including two counts of murder and two attempted murders, one of which is a cop fighting for his life." Chin started.

"I swear to god. I didn't fire any shots." Kehale replied.

"Well, unfortunately for you – your accomplices didn't make it out alive so you're on your own." Chin continued. "You're looking at life in prison, no parole."

Kono held her ground, her eyes burning into their suspect and her expression filled with an anger so deep that words were not necessary.

"But if you help us, you tell us where Michael Lowrey is right now, we can downgrade some of the charges."

Kehale shuffled uncomfortably.

"It was Lowrey who sent you in there to kill Kap'oa? Right?" Chin pushed.

Kehale gasped for air and shook his head. "You have to understand, if I talk; Lowrey is going to come after me."

"You're afraid of him." Kono whispered menacingly.

"If you knew half the things I know about Lowrey, you would be too." Kehale responded, his voice shaking.

"Except Lowrey isn't here, in this room." She continued as she stepped closer, her voice was quiet and yet threatening. "We are." She said as she leaned down next to him. "That cop my partner told you about, he's one of ours. A father of two. Shot in the chest as he protected a little girl from gun fire. Now. I'm a fairly level headed girl, but I'll be honest with you; when something like this happens, I get a little pissed off. A little irrational."

"And understandably so." Chin nodded. "You see, that cop is more than just a colleague. He's our family. Trust me brah, you do not want to see what she does to people who mess with our family." He nodded as he folded his arms across his chest.

"But Lowrey and I are the least of your problems." Kono added. "Four floors above us is that cop's partner. He doesn't know we have you right now, probably for the best considering he is highly decorated and experienced SEAL who would snap you in half in a heartbeat." She continued. "He's not interested in excuses or discussions, he just wants payback."

"It wouldn't be the kind of quick and painless payback, bullet to the head for example." Chin said. "He'd give you a demonstration on his experience with torture techniques. Probably inflict some kind of injury that would have you bleed out slowly, just like he was forced to watch happen to his partner."

"Now he wants Lowrey, that's who he wants to make suffer." Kono whispered. "If you gave him up, that would distract our boss long enough to get you processed and in custody. Once you're out of here, he wouldn't be able to touch you."

"But if he doesn't get Lowrey, he'll go for anyone who had a hand in his partner's condition. You're the only one alive which makes you top of that list." Chin nodded.

Kahele sighed with fear.

"So which one is it going to be? You roll on Lowrey or I make a phone call?"

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Steve stood outside the doors to the ICU. He could see Rachel, through the small windows, sitting on a row of chairs that lined the corridor. She looked shattered and lonely. That feeling of suffocation came back but this time it was tenfold. He didn't even know how he'd gotten here, what had possessed him when he felt so strongly about staying away.

He turned to go back the way he'd come from and noticed a nurse approaching.

"Can I help you?" she asked softly.

Steve swallowed heavily, trying to push down the lump in his throat. He glanced back at Rachel before shaking his head. "No. I got out on the wrong floor."

The nurse nodded slowly, only offering him a subtle hint that she didn't believe him. "You're Five-0?"

Steve frowned.

"Your badge." She smiled sympathetically. "Which means you're here to see Danny Williams?"

"Yeah, I don't think I can do this right now." He answered dismissively.

"You're Commander McGarrett, right?" she pushed.

His eyes pleaded with her to just let him go.

"His ex-wife has been trying to get hold of you."

Steve nodded, his expression numb.

"She could do with a friend right now, and you look like you could too." She smiled compassionately. "Come on." She whispered.

Steve turned to the doors, inhaling a deep breath to bolster his nerves and hopefully give him a fraction of the strength that Rachel probably needed from him. The nurse pushed through and smiled at Rachel. "Look who I found."

Rachel looked up as Steve came into view. "Oh thank god you're here." She gasped as she stood up and hurried to him. She embraced him tightly, burying her face into his shoulder and crying softly.

Steve hesitated for a moment, he was waiting for the inevitable guilt to hit him. But as the seconds passed, that feeling never came. To his surprise he felt almost comforted by her. He lifted his arms and wrapped them around her protectively. The strength, that he couldn't find before, had suddenly saturated him. Maybe he could do this.


	8. Chapter 8

Kono and Chin stepped out of the dimly lit room to Lou who was waiting outside. Chin tapped away on his cell briefly before finishing and looking up to the others.

"Steve's at the hospital with Rachel." Lou started. "Whatever you said to him, it worked." He nodded to Kono.

"I'm glad." She nodded. "I'll call him, let him know we have a location on Lowrey." Kono whispered.

"There's no need, Kono." Chin replied.

She glared at him and shrugged. What are you talking about?"

"We've had orders to stand down from detaining Lowrey."

"Orders? Orders from who?" Kono snapped.

"The governor." Chin nodded somberly. "He knows the situation, he knows how personal this is to our team. He specifically said that he didn't want Steve anywhere near this."

"We have to talk him round." Kono answered.

Chin lowered his head.

She frowned as she glared at his reaction. "You can't seriously agree with him?"

"I already gave the nod to HPD." He whispered.

"Why would you do that, Chin? Why?"

"You saw how Steve reacted." Chin answered defensively. "That was the shock, but now he's had time to think about everything I'd say the main emotion he's feeling is anger. You put that together with being distracted with Danny's condition, something is likely to go wrong."

"So you're protecting Lowrey?" Kono hissed.

"No. Lowrey deserves everything he gets but it's clear, from what we have learnt about this guy, that he's dangerous and will take massive risks to get himself out of trouble. On any normal day, we could handle that, but not today. If any of us were to take the lead in executing this arrest and things went south, we could miss things, let our emotions take over and that could result in us losing someone else. That's just not a risk I am prepared to take right now. Not when HPD and SWAT are perfectly capable."

Kono could see his point but she still didn't like it. "Lou? What do you think?"

Lou stood with his head down. "I got to say, I agree with Chin and the governor on this one." He nodded before he offered her eye contact. "He's where he is supposed to be right now, where his mind is. You take him out of that and put him, any of us, in a situation which requires our upmost focus, it's got potential to get nasty."

"This bastard is going away, for life." Chin promised. "I want him to answer for what he's done to Danny, to Kap'oa and all those people at the Quarry. I want him to go to prison and rot." He paused. "But that is more likely to happen without us being there, with loaded weapons, high emotions and a whole lot of room for error. It's the way I should have handled it with Frank Delano."

Kono's eyes lowered, of course he'd had experience with this and for Chin hind-sight was 20/20. She sighed. "Steve's going to be pissed."

"Maybe." Chin nodded. "But that IS a risk I am happy to take."

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

Rachel sat next to Steve, still waiting on news of Danny's condition. A middle aged doctor appeared and offered her a comforting smile. Rachel stood up, straight and tense.

"He's stable." The doctor nodded.

Steve closed his eyes and exhaled the breath he'd been holding on to for hours.

"The gunshot wound caused a pulmonary laceration, putting a hole in his lung." The doctor explained. "Luckily, because it was a through and through and the type of bullet used, it didn't fragment inside his body but it did cause the lung to collapse. We managed to drain, suture and re-inflated the lung successfully. The severity to his situation was heightened by the blood loss, however the fact he was in a hospital and could be treated as quickly as possible almost certainly helped."

"Thank god." Rachel whispered.

"Is he awake?" Steve asked.

"He came around in recovery, but he's understandably tired." The doctor continued.

"Can she see him?" Steve asked.

"Certainly." He nodded. "Give us a couple of minutes and I'll get a nurse to come get you."

"Thank you." Steve said as he stood up and extended his hand to the doctor. "For everything you've done."

The doctor reciprocated and smiled. "It was nothing short of a group effort. Everything that was done from the moment he was shot got him to this point." He nodded softly and offered a relieved smile before turning away.

Rachel turned to Steve. "I've been thinking." She said softly. "And I think that you should go in first."

Steve frowned. "Why?"

She sighed. "He thought he was actually dying when he said those things across the radio. I doubt he was in his right mind."

"Rachel, listen to me." Steve whispered. "He was clear minded. And I saw the expression on his face when he was talking to you. He meant everything he said."

"Really?" she answered with a small amount of positivity, though she couldn't allow herself to get carried away. "Even so; I should check on the children and explain the situation to them. I can come back later."

Steve nodded gently. "Okay." He said softly.

"Mrs. Edwards?" a nurse announced causing the pair to turn. "You can come through now."

"I just have a few things to take care of, then I'll be back. In the meantime, his partner would love to see him." Rachel nodded.

"Of course." The nurse smiled.

"Just promise you'll come back, okay?" Steve whispered to Rachel.

"I'm not going to risk any chance of finally being happy together again." She nodded.

"Right this way, sir." The nurse held her hand out to direct him.

Steve had been expecting Danny to be under a blanket of medical equipment, but when he stepped into view, he was relieved to see that wasn't the case. Danny had an oxygen mask on, but was breathing by himself. A few cannulas and monitors were hooked up but nothing to the extent Steve was expecting, given what his partner had been through and how close he'd been to slipping away. There was a tube protruding from Danny's side, up by his ribs and under his arm. The area was heavily bruised around the entry site and slight stream of bloody fluid trickled out. The actual gunshot wound was covered by gauze and other than the small amounts of congealed blood on his chest he didn't look too bad.

He moved over to a chair that was at Danny's side and hovered for a moment.

"You can take a seat." The nurse smiled.

Steve looked at her with confusion, he hadn't realized how reluctant he must have looked to her. "Right." He nodded and perched himself down.

"Try talking to him." She pushed.

Steve grinned. "My voice is not one he responds to well."

The nurse laughed softly. "Maybe just try." she paused. "Just holler if you need anything."

"Thank you." Steve nodded. He waited until the nurse had disappeared before he leant closer to Danny. "Hey buddy." He started. "So Rachel has gone to tell the kids that you are pulling through so well. I haven't spoken to Chin, Kono or Lou yet. I'll wait until Rachel gets back." He sighed and lowered his head, if there was ever a moment he'd wanted to hear Danny nag at him it was now. "I lost it Danny, the thought of losing you…" he shook his head. "It scared me. It scared me that you wouldn't be there for your family, for our team, that I would lose one of the best friends I've ever had." Steve's eyes glistened, but his emotion stemmed more from relief that he'd made it this far than sadness. "Kap'oa is recovering, Ellie said she'd speak to the DA about his case. The little girl you shielded, she's back with her parents. We'll be going after Lowrey as soon as we get some intel." He paused. "You did good, partner." He nodded. "You did good."

Danny's hand reached up for the mask as his eyes flickered open, he pulled it away from his face. "So I make it through a near death experience and the only visitor they could find was you?" he struggled to say.

Steve's lips thinned into a smirk. Cool, calm and collected on the outside but bouncing with relief inside in reaction to hearing his best friend's voice again. "Naturally." He nodded. "I was the one who pulled out the short straw."

"That's, that's nice." Danny struggled to say but offered a smirk.

"How do you feel?" Steve asked.

"Like I've been shot." He replied weakly. "Actually, considering the only time I've ever been shot before was in the arm, it feels worse than being shot." He paused. "Did you say Rachel was coming back?"

"Shocking. You do listen to me." Steve answered with a nod. "Yeah, she wanted to check on Grace and Charlie once she'd found out you were doing better."

Danny looked at the hesitant expression Steve gave. "And?"

Steve leaned forward again. "Do you remember anything after you got shot?"

Danny paused to give it some thought. "Yeah." He nodded gently.

"You remember talking to Rachel? Over the radio?"

He closed his eyes. "I've screwed things up saying those things? Haven't I?"

"No." Steve answered with certainty. "No, I think Rachel was more concerned that you just said it because you felt you had to at the heat of the moment." He paused and smiled softly. "She loves you, Danny. But given everything that went on with Charlie, how much she knows she hurt you, she doesn't feel it's her right to expect anything. She needs you to invite her back in."

Danny turned his head to look at Steve. "And you know this how?"

Steve hesitated, he could stretch the truth but Danny would find out and sulk more than if he just came out with it. "Okay, don't get mad but I may have talked to her before I left the hospital this morning." Steve replied.

Danny glared at him.

"Lose the intimidating stare. It's hard to take it seriously most of the time but even more so while you're in a hospital bed..." Steve answered dryly.

"I just feel like I should be pissed with you for conversing with the enemy." Danny replied.

Steve raised his eyebrows. "With the enemy?"

"Yes, with the enemy." Danny repeated.

"Okay, first of all; you told this woman you loved her."

"I told her after you had a conversation with her."

"What difference does it make?" Steve shook his head and shrugged.

"I told her when I was ready, but now it feels like you got involved and that you had something to do with it!" Danny attempted to rationalize.

"Right, which leads me to my second point, I was just listening to her. I wasn't speaking on your behalf. I wasn't trying to fix things, I was just listening to her when she felt like no one else wanted to."

"And whose fault is that?" Danny asked.

"Okay. Stop." Steve put his hands up, noting that even though it was Danny's usual epic over reaction he didn't want him pulling a stitch or anything. "Do you think that perhaps you are still a little sensitive over the whole Charlie thing?"

"She hid the fact that my kid was my kid, Steven. For four years." Danny snarled weakly.

"So the answer would be, yes."

"I think I might be sensitive for some time to come. No?"

"And that would be understandable, but what you really have to think about, right now, is can you overcome that enough to take a real shot with Rachel?" Steve paused. "Because, you know, you guys have had a couple of attempts. You are running out of chances. This might be it to put things right for your family, Danny. But you can't do that until you work through the issues you have. Clean slate."

Danny paused, he knew Steve was right. Annoyingly. He sighed. "Okay…" he whispered. "You're right."

"I'm sorry?" Steve raised his eyebrows and asked sarcastically. "Is that the drugs talking or did you just admit I'm right?"

"I admitted you were right, and make the most of it, because I think the drugs are masking the pain of me actually acknowledging it."

Steve smirked childishly. "Good to have you back, buddy."

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

Chin stepped out of his office and over to Lou and Kono. "That was Steve." He held up his cell phone. "Danny is awake and talking. Looks like he is going to make a full recovery."

Kono closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank god for that."

"When you say he's awake and talking, do you mean he and Steve are back to firing rounds at each other?" Lou asked.

Chin grinned. "Steve did mention that normality had somewhat been restored."

"Did you tell Steve that Lowrey was in custody?" Kono asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "And now it's over, Lowrey is in custody, he seemed okay with it." Chin nodded as he perched himself on the desk. "He knows that by the time CSU have finished we will have an air tight case against this guy."

"I agree, with the cell phone footage and evidence found at the quarry, plus the statements we have from his people about his dealings with Kap'oa, I think it's an air tight case." Lou nodded. "Anything else CSU pulls out from the hat is a bonus."

"Steve's main priority is Danny, and he's focusing on him right now." Chin replied. "Our job tomorrow is to try and get the charges against Kap'oa downgraded."

"Shouldn't be too hard given what we know." Lou answered.

"I agree. I'm going to call Ellie now and give her the heads up. I said to Steve we'd wrap up here and meet him at Sidestreet for a couple of beers." Chin nodded.

"Sounds like a perfect idea." Kono nodded.

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

Steve stood at the doorway to a private hospital room, inside Kap'oa sat upright on the bed and his son sat next to him as they embraced tightly. Kap'oa's face was filled with emotion, it was clear to Steve that he had never imagined this moment would ever happen. His wife leant over the pair, wrapping her arms around them both. Steve smiled warmly. He felt a satisfaction that they had managed to bring the family back together against all the odds. A small part of him was envious, what he would give to have his own reunion with his father was immeasurable. If there was ever a pay off, this moment right here was close. His smile widened as he lowered his head before he walked away.

 **H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50**

Rachel looked up as she sat beside Danny's bed, the pair had sat in a comfortable silence for a while. She held his hand and he gripped her fingers tightly.

"What you said; on the radio. I want you to know that I understand the circumstances may have…"

"Marry me." Danny whispered, interrupting her.

She frowned and coughed. "What?"

"Marry me." He answered. "Again."

"Danny…" she shook her head with uncertainty.

"I want to be with you. And I think that you want to be with me. If that's the case then this might be the last chance we have." He continued. "I want our family back together. I will do whatever it takes to make sure it works this time."

She was stunned. "Charlie?"

Danny paused and shook his head. "I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't still hurt. It does." He nodded. "But I can either stay mad, waste even more time with him and Grace or I can let this go and focus on the here, now and the future." He paused. "I want to do the latter."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Danny. I am so so sorry for what I have done."

"I know." He nodded. "And I know why you did what you did." He whispered. "I get it."

She smiled faintly, still the guilt shone through.

"I want this for us." He said, gripping her hand tightly. "I want you back."

Rachel's smile widened, her eyes lit up the way he used to remember. "I want the same. If I am honest with myself, I have for a long time."

"So is that a yes?" he asked cautiously.

She pushed herself to her feet and embraced him. "That's a yes." She laughed.

He kissed her gently. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She nodded.

 _ **AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you for reading this fic and for all the comments, so sorry it took so long to update and finish.**_


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